Best IR programs for clinical and DR training?

[padkeemao]

Hi all, planning on applying DR and IR/DR this coming cycle and trying to build a list of IR programs to apply to. Strong clinical IR training with a well-respected IR department is really important to me (don't want to be on a PICC line service for 6 years) but the DR aspect of training and overall program reputation are also important factors. With DR programs it's pretty straightforward since program rep basically lines up with T20 schools but I know for IR it gets a bit murky. Here's a list of a few programs I'm interested in that I feel are strong on both the IR front as well as DR training/reputation, if anyone has any specific thoughts or experiences with any of them please share!

Northwestern
Duke
Sinai
Cornell
Columbia
NYU
UMich
BIDMC
Stanford
UCLA
UCSF
UCSD
Vanderbilt
Baylor
UW
UTSW

Programs I'm on the fence about applying to:
Yale (good at IO but not much else)
MGH (same as above, weak IR department overall)
Penn (malignant culture)
Emory (high turnover, tough culture)
MCW/MUSC/MCG/Rush/SLU/LLU (phenomenal IR programs but unsure about quality of DR training)
MD Anderson/UTH (may be too IO focused)

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[account]

I am an incoming integrated IR resident, not at one of the programs you highlighted. I think it is hard to definitively rank IR programs because different programs excel in different fields of IR (neuro, peds, oncology, msk, pad, trauma etc.) and people have different preferences.

Outside of different sub-specialties within the field you should also ask yourself how much you want to weigh resident autonomy in your choice. Some of the ivory towers are more of a first assist until the last year of residency due to the number of IR and ESIR residents as well as independent fellows. Some of the smaller programs have you as primary operator even as an intern when you are technically off service. This you have to balance with the complexity of procedures each place you see, as well as research funding that comes with big names.